Counties Sue on Voting Rights Act

By Maryam K. Ansari, Esq. on May 22, 2012 9:02 AM

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals released a panel decision on Friday regarding an old civil
rights law created to protect minority voters in certain regions where
there was a history of racial discrimination.

The lawsuit was brought
by Shelby County, Alabama. The county argued that the law in question was an
impermissible federal encroachment over state’s rights. The county also argued
that the law was no longer needed.

In a 2-1 decision, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Congress did not cross the
line when it renewed a requirement that nine states and several local
governments had to get federal permission if they wanted to change their
election procedures.

Most of these localities were in the South.

At the center of the dispute was the Voting Rights Act, enacted in 1965.
Section 5 of the law states that governments with a history of racial
discrimination need to obtain the permission of the Justice Department or a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals prior to changing their electoral procedures.

The U.S. Court of Appeals found that electoral discrimination continued to
exist and that there had been hundreds of cases where the U.S. Attorney General
objected to certain proposed voting changes for their discriminatory effect.

The states currently affected by Section 5 of the law include Alabama,
Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Several counties in California, Florida, New York, North Carolina, and South
Dakota are also covered by the law.

The appeals decision now paves the way for the case to head to the U.S.
Supreme Court.

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DC Circuit features news and information from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which hears appeals from U.S. District Courts in the District of Columbia. This blog also features news that would be of interest to legal professionals practicing in the D.C. Circuit. Have a comment or tip? Write to us.